Believe/Be

I pin a lot of crap on Pinterest. It's true. I love the website and all the pretty things. I want to pin all the pretty things and then learn all the pretty things, make all the pretty things (even though I haven't touched a sewing machine in years) and eat all. the. pretty. things. Such eye/mind candy Pinterest is! But I'm a realist and Pinterest just isn't real. I mean, again, it is pretty and there are lots of pretty ideas floating around on it, but for Pete's sake, there is no way I am ever going to learn, make, or eat all of the pretties I pin. Absolutely won't happen.

And even though Pinterest does its best to guilt me with its food and workout routines and Best Parent Ever techniques, I don't buy it. I know there is no such thing as a perfect person or parent (there might be a perfect pastry, but the chances of me making it these days are slim - who has the time?!). And I won't let a website fool me into feeling bad about myself because I can't actually do or make or be all the things I pin. I am good with that. And because I am good with that, I get to do a celebratory dance any time I actually do accomplish something I found on Pinterest (which means I've only done this dance a few handfuls of times, but hey, that is realistic when I consider the three real-life pretties I must attend to day in and day out).

So, Pinterest rant aside, I am so stoked that one of my happy dances got to be in honor of this:

I actually managed (with many helpers) to make a "Believe there is good in the world/Be the good" sign! And the way it all unfolded was pretty cool. 

First there were the barn boards that my in-laws so kindly brought for me. Their old barn fell victim to a tornado before I ever met the Welsch family, but they've kept some of its pieces, using them for various projects, and fortunately some were still available for my little art scheme. My FIL cut them for me and Ben trimmed the edges and this is where we started: 

From there I enlisted the help of my mom who is far more artistic than I am but who still didn't want to just free-hand the lettering. Instead we searched Word for a good font, played with the sizes of various words and came up with this ("GOOD" is actually the biggest word on the board):

My mama is also a smart lady and it was her idea to use carbon paper (did you know such a thing still exists? Well, thankfully it does at Eakes Office Plus in Hastings, anyway!) to trace the letters on the boards. This was great until we realized how rough/weathered some of our boards were. Let's just say we had an awful time seeing the word "World"!

From there it was paint time. Buttercup on the "Be the Good" and cream on everything else. Even though I can't wear it, I love me some good yellow!

 Between nursing sessions, I helped paint. :)

Three boards in:

A few days later, it was time for our lovely work to go up on the wall. My dear math teacher hubby devised a pretty awesome way of making this happen. 1x4 boards with eye hooks and some heavy duty wire to hang from screws in the wall and we were in business.

Brass screws attached the boards to the boards (huh?) so that our creation will be fairly easy to relocate should we ever choose to relocate.

 Almost there!

Getting the sign up on the wall was actually a little scary (to me). The steps in our front entryway are STEEP and Ben had to be up on an extension ladder to get the screws in that would align the sign with our front door since there is no actual floor right in front of where it now sits.

 See? STEEP!

With my help, we got it balanced and on the screws and, viola - sign!

Totally worth it, eh? The final product is amazing (and pretty!) and it just so happens that when I sit in the living room's rocking chair, I am directly diagonal from this great message. This wasn't why I chose this location, but it is a happy coincidence. I actually chose this spot in our house because everything else is covered in pictures and it was the only place that could house a 4'x4' sign. That and I wanted it to be a saying that our guests, family, and friends would see whenever they left our house...something to take with them to believe and be in a world/society that tends to sensationalize and exploit the bad.

It wasn't until my dad made the comment "Words to live by" on a Facebook picture of the work in progress that I truly realized my other desire to have this in our house. I really do want my family to embody these words. We don't have a list of family rules posted anywhere in our home but now that we have this, we may not need one. When life boils down its most simple and most pure, what more is there than believing in and being good to others? Yes, there will always be the bad (moments, days, acts, people, etc.). But when we focus our attention on the other, the good, we build kind hearts and caring homes. And if we can carry that good, that love, with us, then we have the ability to help others do the same. By no means do I think one little pretty from Pinterest is going to change the world, but if it helps me and mine remember what really matters in life, than I'd say it was well worth the pin, the planning, and the finished product.